TIRHAKAH

(Tir·haʹkah).

Thought to be Pharaoh Taharka, the third of the Ethiopian rulers in Egypt’s “Twenty-fifth Dynasty.” The dates generally assigned by modern historians to Taharka’s rule, however, do not fit Biblical chronology. (Evidence favoring Biblical chronology over secular chronology is presented on pages 323 to 326.) During Hezekiah’s reign, while Assyrian King Sennacherib was fighting against Libnah, news came that Tirhakah was on his way to fight the Assyrians. (2 Ki. 19:8, 9; Isa. 37:8, 9) An Assyrian inscription, though not mentioning Tirhakah, indicates that Sennacherib defeated the forces that came from Egypt and captured “the charioteers of the king of Ethiopia.” The next Assyrian king, Esar-haddon, boasted about his conquest of Egypt, saying: “Its king, Tirhakah, I wounded five times with arrowshots and ruled over his entire country.” During the reign of Esar-haddon’s son and successor Ashurbanipal, Tirhakah revolted against submission to Assyria. But, according to Ashurbanipal, “the terror of the (sacred) weapon of Ashur, my lord, overcame Tirhakah where he had taken refuge and he was never heard of again.”